Happy Father's Day, Ababa!!!!! We love you so much!
Ababa is hobbling around with a seized up back, but we celebrated with his favorite sausage egg and cheese sandwich from the local bakery (with a preventative dose of benadryl and a different breakfast for B) and fun cards handpainted by B and...tickets to see Esperanza Spalding later this year!
Ababa loves her music and B is similarly into it (as am I). It's so adorable b/c B will chime in with the lyrics. The first time we were in the car listening to "Cinnamon Tree" and she sang "sweet cinnamon tree" and B chimed in from the back seat "so warm and sturdy" we were shocked and then almost died laughing--it was only the second time he'd heard the song!!!
Also, I spent this weekend reading No One's Son by Tewodros Fekadu. I highly recommend it!!!!!!!
Highly!
Like, go buy it and read it now!!!!!!!!
Now!
What are you waiting for...?
His life is nothing short of incredible. Born during the Ethiopian Eritrean war, to a mother who was brutalized by a man (who truly seems pathological in his denial of the son this act created and his endeavors to not only ignore but actively destroy this son), his life took him all over Ethiopia, including living on the streets of Addis, to Egypt, to more than 3 years in a brutal Japanese detention center and additional years stuck in Japan (embroiled in shocking bureaucratic and immigration dramas), and finally to Australia where, for the first time, he experienced the true, unconditional love of family (through his new Australian wife and her family).
I learned a lot about Ethiopia, and it was very interesting to see the other side of places we knew well in Addis. So many familiar places were mentioned in the book, but it was a really different experience of them than we had!
It is a great read. I read the whole thing this weekend.
It was especially amazing to me b/c he is only a few years older than me and has had such a mind blowingly different life. It was crazy to me to think wow, in 1998 he was stuck indefinitely in a Japanese detention center and I was in college doing such and such. Really incredible.
I had lots of time b/c we were part of a neighborhood tag sale this weekend. We met a lot of neighbors and cleared out some clutter (by the afternoon everything at our table was free for the taking, we just wanted it gone!). The financial equation looked like this:
Income
Goods sold-desk, mirror, some baby toys and ladies clothes: $90
Gift certificate to a local restaurant (won in the raffle): $25
Expense
2 plates each of pad thai and spring rolls handmade by a thai family in our building (YUM!!!): $10
1 thai shave ice: $3
Baby girl clothes for my almost born niece and a big toy for B: $35
water: $2
raffle tickets and space at the sale: $20
So, all in all we netted $20 plus a $25 gift certificate, but I got to read my book, B had a BLAST (and now has a huge new airplane toy that he has played with constantly since yesterday morning), we got a free container store shoe rack, fancy curtain rod, and set of custom wood blinds from another seller, plus we met a bunch of our neighbors.
So, I am calling it a success. We're sending the $90 we grossed to Tumaini to pay for school fees for the kids in August. If you want to help, DONATE HERE and put "August School Fees" in the memo. The school fees are $1600, so we have a ways to go still to get there:-) We are committed to funding these school fees, please help us help these kids! After reading No One's Son, I recognize even more acutely the power of education, stability, and mentorship in the lives of vulnerable children.
Ababa is hobbling around with a seized up back, but we celebrated with his favorite sausage egg and cheese sandwich from the local bakery (with a preventative dose of benadryl and a different breakfast for B) and fun cards handpainted by B and...tickets to see Esperanza Spalding later this year!
Ababa loves her music and B is similarly into it (as am I). It's so adorable b/c B will chime in with the lyrics. The first time we were in the car listening to "Cinnamon Tree" and she sang "sweet cinnamon tree" and B chimed in from the back seat "so warm and sturdy" we were shocked and then almost died laughing--it was only the second time he'd heard the song!!!
Also, I spent this weekend reading No One's Son by Tewodros Fekadu. I highly recommend it!!!!!!!
Highly!
Like, go buy it and read it now!!!!!!!!
Now!
What are you waiting for...?
His life is nothing short of incredible. Born during the Ethiopian Eritrean war, to a mother who was brutalized by a man (who truly seems pathological in his denial of the son this act created and his endeavors to not only ignore but actively destroy this son), his life took him all over Ethiopia, including living on the streets of Addis, to Egypt, to more than 3 years in a brutal Japanese detention center and additional years stuck in Japan (embroiled in shocking bureaucratic and immigration dramas), and finally to Australia where, for the first time, he experienced the true, unconditional love of family (through his new Australian wife and her family).
I learned a lot about Ethiopia, and it was very interesting to see the other side of places we knew well in Addis. So many familiar places were mentioned in the book, but it was a really different experience of them than we had!
It is a great read. I read the whole thing this weekend.
It was especially amazing to me b/c he is only a few years older than me and has had such a mind blowingly different life. It was crazy to me to think wow, in 1998 he was stuck indefinitely in a Japanese detention center and I was in college doing such and such. Really incredible.
I had lots of time b/c we were part of a neighborhood tag sale this weekend. We met a lot of neighbors and cleared out some clutter (by the afternoon everything at our table was free for the taking, we just wanted it gone!). The financial equation looked like this:
Income
Goods sold-desk, mirror, some baby toys and ladies clothes: $90
Gift certificate to a local restaurant (won in the raffle): $25
Expense
2 plates each of pad thai and spring rolls handmade by a thai family in our building (YUM!!!): $10
1 thai shave ice: $3
Baby girl clothes for my almost born niece and a big toy for B: $35
water: $2
raffle tickets and space at the sale: $20
So, all in all we netted $20 plus a $25 gift certificate, but I got to read my book, B had a BLAST (and now has a huge new airplane toy that he has played with constantly since yesterday morning), we got a free container store shoe rack, fancy curtain rod, and set of custom wood blinds from another seller, plus we met a bunch of our neighbors.
So, I am calling it a success. We're sending the $90 we grossed to Tumaini to pay for school fees for the kids in August. If you want to help, DONATE HERE and put "August School Fees" in the memo. The school fees are $1600, so we have a ways to go still to get there:-) We are committed to funding these school fees, please help us help these kids! After reading No One's Son, I recognize even more acutely the power of education, stability, and mentorship in the lives of vulnerable children.
Sounds like a great time!
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